I'm looking at 5th through 7th. I think we'd start with Anne of Green Gables. Rather than just choose one year, I thought I'd pick and choose books based on interest and the history time period we will be studying.

Are the teacher guides necessary? Or are they just answer keys? Thanks!

Mine is up- though not school related this week. We were on vacation!

Thus far we've used Growing With Grammar, though I'm considering a switch to Hake for oldest dd next year.

No, it's doesn't have to be education related. Your photo is very sweet.

Let's share our links for Wordless Wednesday. Here is mine!

She discusses playing classical music in her classroom as a cue for the children to get into writing mindset. She turns the music on for 10 minutes, the children are expected to write without talking during this time. She says many authors have rituals or routines.

Digging Princess

We had a hilarious experience at a co-op class when the teacher asked the kids to stand or sit in a circle. It was hilarious watching her try to mold 15 homeschool Pre-k to 1st graders into a acceptable circle formation. Also lining up, the first several times that happened in sports or co-op situations they were so confused. And being asked to sit "criss cross applesauce"

I used a weekly binder for my 2nd grader last year. The front had a clear pocket with the weeks assignment sheet. I made a table in Word with Mon-Fri across the top and her subjects down the side. She could tell at a glance what work she had to do each day. Then she had dividers labeled Mon-Fri and Daily. Behind each day were the worksheets she needed to complete, then behind Daily she had math drill sheets and handwriting sheets, that due to being front and back couldn't be placed behind the daily dividers. Each Sunday afternoon I unloaded her work into completed work binders, reloaded and made a new assignment sheet for the upcoming week.

I vote community table because my children are still at the age where I need to be involved in most every subject. It makes me easier to help them when they are all close together. I feel that my oldest will soon want her own space for concentration though. I'm leaning toward buying 4 of these desks and putting them together as one table--then I'll be able to break them apart when the kids are ready for that.

I'm bumping this post up hoping that someone can help with the above questions. Thanks so much!

I used WWW 3 with my (advanced) 2nd grade daughter this year. For the most part I have been happy with the writing instruction. It was adequate, it was easy to get done, and she could complete assignments almost independently. She enjoyed the lessons and I saw her transfering things she learned to her journal and story writing. I may use it again next year for her, but I am still researching other options. I love that it is so clearly scheduled and assigned, but at the same time I dislike that there are 36 weeks with 5 days of assignments each week. We often have four days of academics due to field trips and that made it easy to get behind. I had to look ahead to find short assignment days to combine. I also dislike a 36 week writing curriculum as I would prefer to have the freedom to take interest and/or review rabbit trails without either getting behind or drowning in multiple writting assignments. I also felt that it did not have enough variety or instruction in brainstorming techniques and first drafts/editing. The first half of the year was heavy on grammar and sentence writing, while the second half was more paragraph/short essay focused. I felt that the first half of the year could have been condensed and shortened since there was much overlap in WWW and GWG. We will be sticking with GWG next year, but will likely change writing. However, if I don't find a better fit for my daughter then I will stick with WWW and know she is getting adequate instruction.

sorry duplicate post

Thank you so much for your help! I'm glad to know that others are using a grade level (or two) below their oldest child successfully. I do not want to move my 2nd grader up to a higher level for fear of damaging her hard won self esteem as reading is just beginning to click for her. Currently my (almost) ker and 2nd grader are much closer in academic ability than my 2nd and 3rd graders are. The youngest has finished sections on short a and i in ETC 1 and is moving ahead quickly, while the middle child just finished ETC 2 today (with struggle), and the oldest child finished the ETC series years ago and could read my NIV Bible perfectly by her 6th bday. All of the oldest's language arts curriculum will be at least 4th grade level next year. So, I'm guessing my options are either combine the youngest 2 into the 1st grade book and use 3rd with the oldest. Or use 2nd with the oldest 2 and K with the youngest. Can anyone comment on the level of independent reading and writing ability need in levels K, 1st and 2nd? Also how much time daily should I expect to teach/work together with the levels and how much independent time for the kids? Thanks again!